Buying a high-quality new home can be a smart move for those with busy lives. Or really, anyone with more imaginative plans for the weekend than, say, updating electrical wiring or replacing old rain gutters. When you buy a new home at Stepping Stone, you’re free to focus more on the fun parts of homeownership—such as personalizing a brand new home to your taste and lifestyle.
Basically, you get to be the boss of your home instead of it being the boss of you.
If you’re a homeowner—prospective, new, or experienced—you’ll find lots of inspiring ideas on Shea’s Home Hints Pinterest board. It’s chock-full of tips for home and yard maintenance, cleaning, décor, and home improvement projects to get everything just so. Below are some highlights.
Organizing
There’s no better time to get good organizational systems in place than when you first move into a home. Setting up your new kitchen can be the most time-intensive project, so check out this pin’s 20 ways to organize your kitchen. One example: use your dusty old CD storage rack to line up your Tupperware lids. Smart, right? Or, turn the side of a kitchen cabinet into a command center for paying bills and scheduling activities.
Garages are another place to start off orderly, as they can quickly become an anxiety-producing catch-all. Try this easy-on-the-eyes system with “four steps to storage”: shelving, drawers, labeling, and containers.
These Three Organizing Tips You Haven’t Tried offer a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that system of folding clothes and an even larger lesson from decluttering and organizational sensation Marie Kondo. Author of the worldwide best-seller, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, Kondo advocates asking of every item in your home, “does this item bring me joy?” If the answer is no, then express gratitude for the purpose the object once served and let it go.
Maintenance and cleaning
Built with state-of-the-art materials and processes, a new Stepping Stone home requires much less maintenance than an older home. But just like cars, all homes need regular maintenance for a long life. This handy list for monthly and seasonal “honey-dos” will keep your home in shape.
With the passing of time and repeated exposure to water, bathtub caulking will inevitably need a touch-up. Running a strip of blue painter’s tape on both sides of the caulking line beforehand ensures a straight line and minimizes the mess.
When it comes to keeping your nice new home clean, these 31 cleaning tips offer many unexpected suggestions. For example, cruddy showerheads get a makeover with white vinegar and a plastic baggy. If you’ve ever had a mildew odor emanating from your washing machine, you’ll want to read this. And while we’re on the topic of expert cleaning practices, note this list of 32 things you should be cleaning but aren’t (think sink stoppers and dust-coated bathroom exhaust fans).
Lawn and landscaping
If your new home has a lawn to care for, you’ll want to know how to get your yard ready for the snow and cold of winter. Fall is the time to fill in bare patches, get a handle on weeds, and fertilize. While it’s okay to prune out a few dead tree branches year-round, save your serious pruning until February or March. Get detailed instructions here.
And this winter, start sketching out your plan for spring landscaping—if you’d like to add to your initial plan. This pin lists the five best low-maintenance plants.
Want more handy homeowner information? Dig into an archive of Stepping Stone’s Home & Garden blog posts here.
